Elena kagan gay

The sexual orientation of a potential Supreme Court Justice may be relevant, but the question of Elena Kagan’s sexuality and why it came about is still problematic. Who she sleeps with, "if she sleeps with anyone at all," is irrelevant and — unlike her mysterious legal opinions — none of our business.

"Elena Kagan is not gay"

Gay is a deal-breaker: "It's time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence," says Bryan Fischer at the American Family Association's blog.

Lesbians, like other "sexually abnormal" people, are morally unfit to sit on the Supreme Court. "It's especially true with respect to Obama. But this is an imperfect world and it would be political suicide to come out during the Senate hearings. It’s interesting that of her multiple identities, Kagan’s religious identity as a Jew is the most protected.

Unlike the debates over Justice Sotomayor’s ethnicity, no one is worried that Kagan’s status as a “wise Jewess” will color her judgment. Since we don’t see a gay individual as threatening to our point of view, it’s easy to say “Who cares?” or “It doesn’t matter,” and dismiss the discussion out of hand. As Amanda Hess writes at The Sexist: “If Kagan were married to a man, there would not be any silence on the details of her family life.

Before the nomination, White House consultant Anita Dunn said assertions by a conservative blogger for CBS News that Kagan is gay amounted to "people posting lies," while White House spokesman Ben LaBolt called them "false charges."

Moreover, it's clear from a recent ABCNews/Washington Post poll that most Americans -– 71 percent -- would find a nominee's sexual orientation irrelevant in determining his or her suitability for the Supreme Court.

Senior White House adviser David Axelrod told reporters earlier this week that he and President Obama agree.

A recent article in the Washington Post addressed the issue from both sides of the argument. If those things matter, shouldn’t sexual orientation? President Obama believes, as do I, that this is a good thing. The obvious question is, “If she were a man, would anyone be questioning her sexuality?”

Because Elena Kagan has not married, has not had children, and has done so well professionally, her story does not fit the usual narrative for women (although it does describe the life choices of a growing percentage of American women).

Until that day, Elena Kagan’s privacy should be respected.

(Image credit: Getty)

Though an unnamed Obama official said that Elena Kagan is not a lesbian a month ago, questions about the Supreme Court nominee's sexuality have resurfaced — on both the right and the left. Every “is she gay” story refers to her refusal as Dean of Harvard Law to allow military recruiters on the campus in protest of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Kagan and the 'Gay Question' Controversy

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2010— -- When Elena Kagan goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee this summer, she'll be asked dozens of questions by probing senators eager to understand the influence her education, career path, family life and personal views would have on her judicial philosophy.

What she almost certainly won't be asked, based on decades of precedent and confirmation hearings, are questions about her sexuality.

The media needs to ask her, point-blank, if she sleeps with other women.

"Is she or isn't she?

Andrew Sullivan makes an interesting argument that the American people have the right to know where a Supreme Court Justice is coming from, and that a nominee’s sexual orientation should be public just like one’s racial or religious identity.

Arguing that a Supreme Court Justice’s sexual orientation “doesn’t matter” seems to invalidate queerness as a formative identity, suggesting it is not as important as one’s race, gender, religion, class, etc. The reality is that any identity, especially a minority identity, influences judgment and the way one perceives the world.

In an article for Newsweek, Julia Baird argued that it should not matter what Kagan’s sexual orientation is because it is a private and personal matter and has no bearing on her ability to function as an impartial judge.

Frankly, it would be great to get some more diversity on the bench, especially regarding sexual orientation.